1. Field
The presently disclosed subject matter relates to a vehicle headlight and an optical fiber bundle used in the vehicle headlight and, more particularly, to a vehicle headlight including optical fibers and an optical fiber bundle used in the vehicle headlight.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a field of lighting appliances, a vehicle headlight including optical fibers has been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-222260).
FIG. 15A is a perspective view of a vehicle headlight 200 described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-222260. FIG. 15B is a perspective view of a fluorescent body 220 used in the vehicle headlight 200.
As illustrated in FIG. 15A, the vehicle headlight 200 described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-222260 includes a plurality of laser beam sources 210, a fluorescent body 220 that receives laser beams and emits light, an optical fiber 230 that guides the laser beams emitted from the laser beam sources 210 to the fluorescent body 220, a reflecting mirror 240, a convex lens 250, and the like.
As illustrated in FIG. 15B, the fluorescent body 220 is configured as a fluorescent body including a light receiving surface 220a and a light emitting surface 220b on the opposite side of the light receiving surface 220a and having a block shape as a whole. The optical fiber 230 is configured as a bundle of a plurality of optical fibers including a plurality of incident ends 230a and a plurality of emission ends 230b from which laser beams made incident from the plurality of incident ends 230a are emitted. The plurality of emission ends 230b are retained in a ferrule 270 while being inserted into holes formed in the ferrule 270. The plurality of emission ends 230b are arranged to be opposed to the fluorescent body 220 (the light receiving surface 220a).
In the vehicle headlight 200 having the configuration explained above, when the laser beams emitted from the plurality of emission ends 230b are emitted to the fluorescent body 220 (the light receiving surface 220a), the fluorescent body 220 (the light receiving surface 220a) emits light in a rectangular shape. The emitted light of the fluorescent body 220 is reflected on the reflecting mirror 240. After a part of the emitted light is blocked by a shade 260, the emitted light is transmitted through the convex lens 250 and is emitted to the front and forms a light distribution pattern for a low beam.